Though Andy and Liz Friesen have served in various capacities at Hume for over three decades, their Hume story actually began a full 80 years ago.
Andy’s grandfather, Walt Warkentin, was one of the five co-founders of Hume Christian Camps and its first Executive Director. Walt and his wife, Frances, served on staff from 1946 to 1978, and their daughter Colleen grew up spending her summers at Hume. It was only natural that Colleen would eventually join the staff herself, and in time, she did, alongside her husband Dennis.
Together, Dennis and Colleen filled nearly every role imaginable over the years, from the dish room and maintenance to the Snack Shop, stables, kitchen, dining room, accommodations, the camp office, and beyond. Dennis eventually spent eleven years as Meadow Ranch Coordinator and led Security and the Infirmary for three. Colleen served as camp registrar. They both counseled and served as a Catalyst couple for Joshua. For the Friesen family, Hume was never just a place to visit; it was a way of life.
Andy, Dennis and Colleen’s son, spent each of his first six summers at camp while his parents served. He attended camp as a camper from age seven through all of high school, including his first week at Wagon Train, after which his mother discovered his suitcase completely unpacked exactly as she had sent it. Some things about camp never change!
Andy joined summer staff in 1994, spending four summers in Security before transitioning to four summers as a Ponderosa lead counselor. Liz arrived the following summer in 1995 as a Pine Tree waitress, later working full-time in the Youth Store and serving on Summer Counseling Staff. It was that first summer that Andy and Liz met. They began dating that fall when Andy would work weekends to be near camp after the summer ended, and three years later Andy proposed — at Hume, of course. They married in the spring of 1999 and spent that summer together as Ponderosa leads, living in Ponderosa Lodge.
In 2001, they returned to camp with their newborn daughter, Savanna, the youngest resident of the Ponderosa Lodge, surrounded by lead counselors who became like family and Hume moms who offered endless encouragement and advice. Among Liz’s most treasured memories from those years are chapel messages she could never get enough of — notebooks filled with sermon notes from Francis Chan, Jerry Root, and others — along with Bible studies, birthday celebrations, and the particular sweetness of doing ministry alongside people who became lifelong friends.
Though Andy and Liz stepped back from summer staff roles after 2002, they have returned to Hume every single summer since and continue to serve as volunteers. In 2024, they purchased a cabin with family, making their presence at the Lake even more constant and intentional.
And now, the fourth generation is writing its own Hume story. Savanna has served in Security and as a Wagon Train trail guide. Sawyer has worked in Security, as a Ponderosa lifeguard, and currently serves as a Ponderosa lead counselor for Summer 2026. Sydney has served in Day Camp and completed the Joshua program. The Friesens aren’t just part of Hume’s 80-year story — in many ways, they are a living picture of it.